


Loving an Alien Shouldn't be this Complex

by The_Mouse_of_Anon



Series: Sweet Triad: We're Not That Complex [2]
Category: Blue Beetle (Comics), DCU, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Bart being a complete sap, Bart has an inventive mind, Bart is so thoroughly pan, Bart's reeeeeally smitten with Jaime and Khaji Da, Bluepulse OT3 sappiness in abundance, Multi, and polyamorous, and reeeeeaally wants to be with BOTH Jaime and Khaji Da, small time jumps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-08-07 07:57:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7706734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Mouse_of_Anon/pseuds/The_Mouse_of_Anon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bart loves Jaime, and he loves Khaji Da. And Bart really loves the idea of being in a relationship with both of them. There's just one problem: he thinks he doesn't stand a chance with Khaji Da.</p><p>A companion fic to The Love of a Scarab is Complex.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I'm Crushing

**Author's Note:**

> The easiest explanation of this is _The Love of a Scarab is Complex_ through Bart's eyes. Of course, Bart being Bart it's a lot more detailed than that.  
>  Enjoy the Bluepulse OT3 fluff in all its glory.

Bart wanted to bang his head against a wall. Repetitively. For an _hour_. Maybe two hours. Two hours would be good. Maybe then his mind would stop playing over possibilities he had never wanted to imagine and now couldn’t seem to stop thinking about. _‘Or I could pretty much destroy a wall and get yelled at in the process.’_

He’d already had a hard enough time adjusting to the idea that he’d been attracted to Jaime when he first figured it out. Mainly due to the whole Jaime-was-partially-responsible/involved-in-the-Reach-apocalypse thing in his original timeline. It had been a little difficult, but Bart had gotten over it. It was fine. Everything was crash. More than crash actually considering the fact that they had been dating for a while. Okay, technically half a year. Though everybody else on their team would swear that it had been longer than that— and the fact that Bart had nearly tripped over himself the first time he’d actually _seen_ Jaime without the armor on hadn’t helped that. Never mind the fact that there had been no way Jaime would have even considered _looking_ at him like that back then— because doy! Bart had been 13 at the time. 

And okay, yeah, Bart had been mature for his age, there was no denying that— but 13 was 13 and at the time (no matter how frustrating it had been sometimes) there was no way that Jaime had been willing to let himself even consider returning Bart’s blatant flirting. So cue three years of Bart continuously flirting at Jaime and Jaime never outright discouraging him, and it was small wonder why pretty much the entire team thought they had been dating almost from the get-go.

All of that had been fine though. They kind of started unofficially dating once Bart hit fifteen— pretty much everyone had _known_ they were going to end up in a relationship thanks to Bart’s rampant flirting and Jaime’s distinct lack of telling him to stop— but it hadn’t technically _been_ a relationship at the time. It hadn’t been said outright or outright acknowledged. When Bart had hit sixteen though… When Bart hit sixteen, finally outright asked Jaime to date him (to which he had thoroughly expected a no), got a yes (which had the effect of turning him into a blissfully happy awkward goober for about a week straight— something that certain people still hadn’t let him live down), and he’d had a good solid half a year of low-key not-too-intense fluffy dating with Jaime that never failed to make him grin like a love-struck goofy idiot in the best moments. It had all been good and Bart had been happy. (Even if Bart wished Jaime would just stop being a damned gentleman at some point and just make out with him—okay, maybe more than just make out with him in the sense of some heavy snogging, but more along the lines of damn near foreplay. Bart had needs!)

And then it had happened. 

The reason for his torment and growing frustration. The reason he wanted to bang his head against a wall until either he passed out or the wall was knocked into oblivion.

He had a crush on Khaji Da.

Oh it had taken Bart a while to realize it. After all, it was kind of hard to realize that one apparently had the hots for an alien AI symbiote fused to the spine and sharing the body of one’s boyfriend, especially when said alien AI and boyfriend had only figured out how to switch back and forth on who was in control a couple of years ago, and when said alien AI didn’t like to talk much when he—they? (Bart didn’t really care what gender Khaji Da was, and in all honesty didn’t know if Khaji Da even _had_ one)—was in control. In fact by most standards the idea of crushing on someone who was so antisocial and ‘hidden’ most of the time was borderline impossible. But Bart? Oh no, leave it to Bart to apparently have a thing for falling for people who sense dictated he _shouldn’t_.

He hadn’t even known he had that trend. Tendency. Whatever. Could two people really be considered a trend? Regardless, the point was that when it had just been Jaime it had been no big deal. Bart hadn’t thought too much of the fact that he’d fallen head-over-heels for Jaime once he got past his initial internal conflicts (and yeah he had no desire to get into the whole ‘oh yeah, by the way, if I hadn’t been able to prevent you from going on-mode my original plan was to kill you’ thing any time soon— definitely not the sort of talk that would get his boyfriend to make out with him). In fact once he’d gotten over that he hadn’t thought about it too much. But with this… with this it brought up several of those thoughts he hadn’t really mulled over in a while, and with them came the realization of ‘Oh. My freaking out about crushing on Khaji Da actually feels a lot like how I felt when I was freaking out about crushing on Jaime. Fancy that.’ Of course when it had been about Jaime Bart hadn’t needed a freaking _dream_ to point out the fact that he’d thought Jaime was hot.

The weird part of it all was that Bart consciously knew that Khaji Da was the small— okay, compared to actual bugs he was actually kind of large— beetle-like scarab on Jaime’s back, fused throughout probably most of Jaime’s body. Did that stop his mind? Nope. Apparently his sleeping mind thought a perfect solution for how to portray Khaji Da as his own individual being with a separate body was his and Jaime’s armored form. And okay, Bart already knew that he’d had a fine appreciation for Jaime no matter how he looked, so he’d already had the vague concept that their armored form was hot— but in his dream with Khaji Da in control and deliberately advancing toward him in a way that Jaime never would (because Jaime was not the sort to prowl by any stretch of the imagination) Bart had been confronted with the fact that it wasn’t just the armored form, but Khaji Da who was hot. And not just hot in a vague ‘oh that person’s really pretty and kind of sexy’ way, but flat out knock-down drag-out oh-my-god-I’m-going-to-run-face-first-into-a-pole-because-I-was-too-busy-staring _HOT_.

It had been enough to snap him awake and make Bart fall out of bed because of it. That had been a little awkward, but at least he hadn’t woken anybody up.

He had tried to put the idea out of his head. He really did. Because if there was no way he’d stood a chance with Jaime back when he was 13, there was _no way in hell_ he stood a chance with Khaji Da. What use would an alien AI have for— well, _everything_? Somehow Bart had a very strong feeling that something even as tame as kissing or cuddling would be completely out. Hell, Khaji Da probably wouldn’t even feel comfortable _holding hands_. Really, Bart had no business having a crush on Khaji Da. And besides, he was _so_ not supposed to fall for a _scarab_. He had a boyfriend already.

Not that Bart was necessarily opposed to the idea of being with more than one person (he’d always sort of figured that if he fell for multiple people and he and whoever he’d fallen for could work it out that he’d be perfectly happy with the situation), but there was something that felt really weird about the idea of saying ‘Jaime, you know I love you and would never dream of leaving you, but I also want to date the bug attached to your spine if he’s interested’. It was just not the sort of conversation he wanted to think about having. And yet he was thinking about it. Had been thinking about it for weeks now. But Bart definitely felt like it was the sort of thing he _shouldn’t_ be thinking about because 1) it was _Khaji Da_ , 2) Khaji Da having any sort of interest in a romantic relationship was just downright weird to think about, and 3) he wasn’t sure if he was really up to crashing (in the bad way) and burning quite that badly. 

Hell, if Bart had to put a label on Khaji Da just based off of what he knew, he’d be tempted to say that Khaji Da was the most ace and aro person he’d ever met. Come to think of it how would someone even begin to actually describe the sexual and romantic orientation of a scarab? Sure Khaji Da had a complete free will and was thoroughly the king/royal?-of-sass, but Bart had no idea if Khaji Da was even capable of having an orientation! _‘Even if I’m apparently capable of thinking he’s freaking hot and fantasizing about him in my sleep,’_ Bart thought to himself in annoyance.

And then of course there was the rather big fact that Khaji Da was an alien. Well, an alien AI, but same concept. The point was, was that if Khaji Da _was_ capable of feeling romantic or sexual attraction (and _damn_ some of Bart’s dreams had some wild ideas about that latter point), since he was an alien would he even have any interest? For all Bart knew Khaji Da could be attracted to only Reach-looking people— which of course pretty much ruled out the idea that Khaji Da would get together with someone if that was the case, considering the fact that there weren’t really any Reach or any aliens that remotely resembled them around, and due to the fact that since they were on _Earth_ the chances of meeting another alien were pretty slim (ignoring of course the weirdly high incidence of them in the League). But if that was all the case, that meant that Bart still didn’t stand a chance, which really kind of sucked.

So okay, hypothetically then if Khaji Da _did_ have that sort of drive (and the very idea was kind of distracting actually) and if he wasn’t the sort to give up if there wasn’t an appropriate alien around (come to think of it that was a weird concept in and of itself because humans would be aliens to other aliens), did that mean he’d be willing to compromise and settle for a human? And if he was willing to settle for a human, who would even be to his tastes? 

Bart felt like slapping himself due to how obvious that one was. Jaime. Of course if Khaji Da was attracted to a human it would be Jaime. _‘But who in the hell in their right mind_ wouldn’t _be?!’_ Jaime was hot, sexy as hell, charming, sweet, considerate, just the right amount taller than Bart, had those beautiful eyes, that stunning smile, that unbelievably gorgeous _everything_ … Bart shook his head hard enough it blurred for a moment. Okay, to be fair he could be biased on that point. A little. Okay, a lot. But the point still stood that if Khaji Da was going to be attracted to a human it’d be Jaime. Because Jaime was wonderful, and lovable, and understanding, and supportive, and _damn_ he had a way of making it feel as if any flaws a person had weren’t really all that bad. Bart thumped his head back against the wall next to his bed. He was getting distracted. Funny, getting distracted by thoughts of his boyfriend when he’d finally decided to stop running (figuratively speaking) from the fact that he’d been being distracted by thoughts of his crush. There was some irony in there somewhere.

The big question was if Khaji Da, if he was attracted to humans, would he be attracted to _Bart_. Because loving Jaime? That was easy. Jaime was the most lovable person in the world as far as Bart was concerned. Bart himself though… Considering how active and hyper he could be sometimes, Bart sometimes had a feeling that if he hadn’t been lucky enough to meet and get together with Jaime that he’d be lucky if he got laid by the time he was 40. Partly because _standards_. Bart wasn’t the sort of person to sleep with just _anybody_ , he had to legitimately like and love the person— _and_ they had to reciprocate— for him to even consider it. So yeah, if it wasn’t for Jaime he probably wouldn’t get laid until he was 40. He didn’t know what to think about whether or not Khaji Da could be attracted to him. He considered it, but just came up with a blank. Jaime was a definite though. If Khaji Da was attracted to any humans that is.

That brought up another very interesting thought, and it was one Bart knew he’d be in no hurry to ask Jaime about. _If_ Khaji Da had a drive, and _if_ he was able to find humans attractive, and _if_ he was involved with Jaime (which hypothetically that would be supremely unfair because Bart would have expected Jaime to tell him as much if that were the case)… did that mean there was some incredibly hot alien-bug-sex going on between his boyfriend and his crush? And _oh dear gods_ the images that thought conjured up were enough to make Bart blush to the tips of his ears. He was glad he was alone in his room and that it was late at night. The last thing he would have wanted to deal with in that moment was fumbling for an excuse as to why he’d suddenly turned bright red and trying to cover for the fact that his mind had gone straight to an image that would probably linger in his fantasies for a good long while.

And this proved another thing: while Bart thought Jaime was hot, and thought Khaji Da was hot, the idea of the two of them together was even _hotter_. Bart sighed. He knew that when it came to others who were in (or interested in) multiple relationships at once that it was actually kind of rare for one person’s partners to be involved with each other, but even so Bart liked the idea of having Jaime and Khaji Da together _way more_ than he liked the idea of having them separately. Because if he was lucky enough to be with both of them and if they were also with each other… well the end result would be a really good relationship and probably some unbelievably mind-blowing sex. _‘Unless Jaime “gentleman”s us to death.’_

Now that was another interesting perspective. Unlikely, but possible. If Khaji Da was interested in them, Jaime and Bart both that is, and assuming that Jaime had some secret relationship with Khaji Da without having told Bart (which, again, was unlikely because Jaime wasn’t the sort of jerk to go behind someone’s back like that), did that mean that Jaime might have been putting Khaji Da through the same ‘wait for the right moment’ deal that he’d been putting Bart through? And if that _was_ the case, did that mean that Khaji Da could possibly be as frustrated as Bart was? Because Bart was actually _really_ frustrated sometimes. Jaime’s general overall sweetness more than made up for it though. 

Somehow the idea of a sexually frustrated scarab was really hard to imagine. But of course if Khaji Da _was_ frustrated… hypothetically speaking… Bart would be more than willing help relieve that frustration. Except that would invariably involve Jaime since Khaji Da was sharing Jaime’s body. How did one even go about having hot alien-bug-sex without involving said partner that said hot alien bug was attached to? _‘Not important.’_ So okay, pursuing that hypothetical line of thought on somewhat more sensible terms, if Khaji Da was frustrated and Bart was frustrated but Jaime insisted on being a gentleman and holding off— because there was no question that Bart and Khaji Da would respect Jaime’s boundaries since the idea of doing any less was just flat out gross and disrespectful— would that technically turn Jaime into ‘Jaime the cock-blocking boyfriend’? The idea almost made Bart laugh. He only managed to hold back because he really didn’t want to wake anyone else up.

In some ways, ridiculous as the thought was, it was kind of accurate. And okay, Jaime had made it clear that he was trying to be sensitive to how much Khaji Da could or couldn’t ‘tune out’ in the interests of not traumatizing the scarab (which Bart thought was actually really sweet of Jaime to do), but at the same time Bart was pretty frustrated. He knew it wasn’t a case of Jaime not being interested— _no one_ had that hard of a time not letting their low-key just-snogging-and-disappointingly-limited-groping make-out sessions turn into something a lot more heated if they had no interest—so in a way it was kind of like Jaime was cock-blocking himself as well as Bart, all in the interests of being considerate and being a gentleman. Sweet, considerate, and frustrating as hell. Sometimes Bart wanted to drag Jaime into a closet and damn near ravage him. He wouldn’t though, not without the clear go-ahead from Jaime.

The idea that some people in this time thought that doing things without clear consent was acceptable or even attractive was just weird and gross to Bart. To his way of thinking, things were _soooo_ much more hot knowing everyone involved was into what was happening. Though considering the numerous talks he’d gotten as a kid from the various heroes he’d grown up around that probably wasn’t all that surprising. He could still remember Nathaniel liberally quoting Nightwing on a three-hour rant about consent and when to say ‘no’. Kind of hilarious actually. And if he ever heard Dick in this time saying anything that Nathaniel had quoted, Bart was going to laugh himself senseless. He had no idea if he’d even be able to stop laughing long enough to explain.

 _‘Ugh… I need to go to sleep.’_ Bart just hoped that his dreams wouldn’t be filled with the idea of wild sex with Jaime and Khaji Da. There were just some things he did not want to have to worry about, much less even consider having to possibly explain.


	2. I'm Falling

Being more involved with Jaime had been well worth the wait. It had been _unbelievably_ satisfying when Jaime finally caved to what they both wanted. In all honesty Bart felt like he had been walking on clouds of pure bliss for 3 months now. Of course it was only a matter of time before that overwhelming bliss faded enough for him to really be able to think coherently, and then he had rather intrusive dreams reminding him of an idea he’d had quite a while ago. Because of course once Bart had thought of something it was just too damned difficult to let it go.

Where did his mind go? Where else? _Khaji Da_. And something else he’d found out thanks to being more involved with Jaime and being around them more often was the fact that Khaji Da was starting to feel comfortable enough to occasionally, _deliberately_ , slide into control during more casual moments to snark at him. And with Khaji Da’s snark came Bart bantering with Khaji Da. And with Bart bantering with Khaji Da came Bart’s brain filing away all of the subtle little ways Khaji Da talked or moved which eventually kept on being reproduced in Bart’s dreams in increasingly sexy iterations. Bart had a problem.

And true to form, despite how much Bart tried to keep his interest under wraps he couldn’t seem to keep himself from throwing playful flirts in Khaji Da’s direction. Every single time Bart wanted to kick himself (or bang his head against a wall, or throw himself into the harbor). Because it was all well and good to muse about whether or not Khaji Da could be attracted to him and about what he’d love to _do_ with Jaime and Khaji Da if the scarab _was_ interested, but the idea of actually acting on it was rather terrifying due to the fear that he’d ‘scare’ Khaji Da off. He couldn’t help but think that if he was actually open, that if he actually tried to talk to Khaji Da about it, that the scarab would feel awkward, clam up, and never want to talk to him again. Of course if that was the case Bart knew the whole not-talking-to-him thing would be temporary since it was unlikely that Jaime was going to break off his relationship with Bart, but still he’d rather not deal with _that_ particular hurt any time soon.

What was more, the more Bart got to talk with Khaji Da the more smitten he was becoming. And the thing was, was that since Bart and Jaime had _officially_ started dating they had started spending much more time together, and Jaime and Khaji Da both had gradually been becoming more relaxed about randomly switching out who had control in front of him. There were times now that Bart would be talking with Jaime and Khaji Da would feel like interjecting, and Jaime’s voice would suddenly switch from that beautiful rolling accent to Khaji Da’s calm poise and deliberate word choice, and then back again. Or Khaji Da would feel like more thoroughly making a point rather than saying a brief comment, and so rather than just temporarily seizing control of Jaime’s ability to speak Khaji Da would completely switch out control with Jaime and then their entire body-language would change (and oh boy did Bart pay attention any time _that_ happened). Bart was becoming used to carrying on a conversation with _both_ of them even when he was only really talking to one of them. And the more he got used to it, the more they did too. The more used to it all three of them were, the more frequently the random switching between Jaime and Khaji Da got.

Bart was getting pretty good at seeing the subtle shift. Sure, Jaime and Khaji Da knew each other well enough by now that they each could reasonably imitate the other and fool almost everyone, but now that it happened so frequently in front of Bart (and so close) he could see the little tell-tale signs that others might miss. Like how Jaime tended to interact with things and other people more openly and in a more welcoming way, but when Khaji Da was in control their expression tended to be more guarded and warily observant; or how Jaime would move in a casual and relaxed way, but Khaji Da would move much more gracefully and deliberately; or how if they were looking from one thing to another Jaime’s eyes would naturally trail from point A to point B, but Khaji Da’s would flick rapidly from one point to another. Jaime moved freely without really caring about any noises he could make when they were someplace secure; Khaji Da almost always moved without making a sound. They even _walked differently_.

What gave them away most each and every time to Bart, above all else, was their eyes. The way the skin around them would tighten just slightly when Khaji Da was in control, or how they almost seemed brighter when Jaime was in control, or the way Khaji Da would look at things with that vaguely predatory air as if he was mentally picking something apart, or how Jaime would just take in whatever he was seeing in a relaxed way… And yeah, it was kind of weird thinking of Jaime’s body in terms of it also being Khaji Da’s, but in a way it kind of was. They even tended to talk about it as such. Well okay, Jaime did, but Khaji Da had pretty much given up arguing with Jaime about it after about the 60th time they’d had the discussion in front of Bart. And the fact was that Bart thought it was sweet on both their parts; Jaime’s because he was considerate and wonderful and obviously wanted Khaji Da to feel comfortable and able to claim some experiences as just his own, and Khaji Da’s because he was just as considerate and sweet and didn’t want to feel like he was taking something from Jaime that he knew in other circumstances he wouldn’t have much (if any) right to.

How could he _not_ think they were both sweet when their argument essentially consisted of ‘I want you to have experiences as your own because if you can’t that’s not fair to you,’ and ‘you’re offering me too much and I don’t want you to give me something you shouldn’t because I don’t want to take _too much_ from you’? How could he not just look at that situation and love them both more for it?

Bart’s crush, if it hadn’t been already, was getting out of hand.

He liked it. He liked being able to casually speak at a moment’s notice with Khaji Da. He liked the way Khaji Da would snark at him or banter with him casually. He liked the fact that he could _see_ Khaji Da relax (even if Khaji Da’s version of ‘relaxed’ always contained the sense that he could act at a moment’s notice if need be). Sure it took a while to get used to Khaji Da’s subtle facial expressions, but an amused smile from him was as wonderful and outright golden as a full-out laugh from Jaime. He liked the way how Jaime or Khaji Da would occasionally interrupt each other, usually on accident, out loud but only when they were alone with him. He liked the fact that they both trusted him enough that when they were alone with him they had finally stopped caring about appearances and felt comfortable just letting their conversations or commentary flow naturally. Sure, the two of them could converse silently in Jaime’s (their?) head, but the fact that they were willing to make it so that Bart could hear both sides was just incredibly flattering to him. He never would have guessed that Khaji Da could be so sweet, and the fact that Khaji Da was willing to relax enough with Jaime to show that sweet side to Bart just blew Bart’s mind.

It made him want them both so bad. He wanted to be able to curl up to both of them and know that it wasn’t just a case of Khaji Da being there just because he couldn’t leave. He wanted to be able to kiss them— he had to wonder if they would kiss differently too, if Khaji Da would ever be okay with that— and know that they both were enjoying it. Hell, he wanted to be able to kiss Khaji Da directly where he rested on Jaime’s spine. Bart wanted to be able to cuddle with them both, to go on dates, to shower together, to watch lame movies together and hold hands, and to know that through all of it Khaji Da was happy and enjoying himself. And okay, yes, he did want to have mind-blowing sex with both of them simultaneously. Bart wanted Jaime, and he wanted Khaji Da, and he wanted them _together_.

But he was afraid.

Afraid that if he brought it up that Khaji Da would never completely relax around him again. Afraid that Khaji Da would be offended, that their enjoyable banter (which often involved Bart and his unintentional flirting) would stop, that he would never again get to see that sly playful smirk as Khaji Da thought of something devious, that Khaji Da would stop feeling safe in showing his morbid sense of humor, that Khaji Da would slam up every wall and distance himself from him and only talk to him in the most formalized of ways. Bart was afraid of losing Khaji Da just by wanting him, even though he didn’t really have him, and the thought of that ache— of it just being Bart and Jaime— honestly made Bart feel like there was an empty pit waiting around the corner if he didn’t have the sense to stop before getting there.

But he couldn’t stop himself from wanting Khaji Da to be involved. Hell, he’d be happy if he could have any sort of relationship with Khaji Da, even if the most he could ever get was cuddling and banter. He would be happy. Because even if a relationship with Khaji Da was pretty much asexual, at least it would still be a relationship. What scared Bart the most was the thought that Khaji Da wouldn’t even want that, that even that would be _too much_. 

And just the idea of it hurt. Asking Khaji Da about it was too big a risk. There was potentially too much to lose. But damn it all, Bart _wanted_ to ask. He wanted to know, to have a relationship, or even to find out if Khaji Da would be willing to have a relationship and if Jaime would be okay with it— but at the same time the idea of asking was so overwhelming that Bart couldn’t help but shut down.

Bart was in trouble.


	3. I'm In So Deep

“Can I talk to you? I— _we_ have a confession to make.” Those were, without a doubt, the scariest words Bart had heard in a long time. Bart had been dating Jaime for a full year. He thought they’d been doing good. Even so, Bart couldn’t help his automatic knee-jerk fear when he heard those words, the fear that Jaime was going to break it off.

It was a fear Bart had had since Jaime had said ‘yes’ to dating him— and in his fears it had always boiled down to his age. Three years was a large gap between 16 and 19, and was only marginally better at 17 and 20. As it was Bart _knew_ that the only reason the others on their team had never said anything against it was due to how long Bart had pursued Jaime, the fact that Jaime had always been the responsible one and held off, and the fact of how much they both had been through together. Bart had known that outside of the team the relationship would have been looked at as though something was wrong with Jaime for agreeing to date Bart when he had, and though he had tried to bury the fear as being completely ridiculous and baseless with those words that fear came slamming into Bart’s mind full force.

Even worse was the idea that maybe all of his seemingly uncontrollable flirting at Khaji Da had gotten to be too much for the scarab. He’d tried to stop, he really had, but there had been times (probably wishful thinking) where it had seemed like Khaji Da had been encouraging him. At least he hadn’t seemed too annoyed really, but maybe Bart couldn’t read Khaji Da as well as he thought. Maybe he had made Khaji Da really uncomfortable and Khaji Da was really good at hiding it and had talked Jaime into dumping Bart. If that was the case it would be fair, but it would really suck; he knew about their deal that if Khaji Da couldn’t stand someone that Jaime wouldn’t pursue a relationship with them. Jaime and Khaji Da were a package deal, so it only made sense that Jaime would be sweet and considerate enough of Khaji Da’s needs that he wouldn’t go after someone Khaji Da hated. And Jaime being Jaime, if he was going to dump Bart he wouldn’t just do it casually— he’d do it only if it was the only fair option.

Bart couldn’t be mad at him for that, but if Jaime was going to dump him it was going to suck. He didn’t want to lose Jaime or Khaji Da— and okay, he technically didn’t have a relationship with Khaji Da, but the concept still stood. He was _really_ hoping that Jaime wasn’t going to dump him. But those words… The moded possibility of being dumped was the only thing those words called to mind.

Bart swallowed nervously before saying, “Please tell me you’re not going to say what I think you’re going to say.”

Jaime looked genuinely confused for a moment, and then it clicked. His expression melted, a little heartbroken before he spoke. “Bart… no. _No_ … I’m not dumping you. _Mi corazon, mi amor, cariño… te amo._ I love you. Okay? It’s not that.”

Well… that made Bart feel marginally better. Actually a whole lot better, but he still couldn’t help but feel nervous though. He worried his lower lip between his teeth for a moment or two. “What is it then? ‘Cause, I mean… usually those specific words lead up to something bad, you know?”

Jaime smiled sympathetically. “ _Lo siento_. I didn’t mean to make you worry like that. It’s just… We— Khaji Da and I— kind of did something… Something that maybe we shouldn’t have without talking to you about it…” 

Weird… Now Jaime was looking distinctly awkward. Bart couldn’t imagine anything that Jaime _and_ Khaji Da could have ever done that would make _him_ upset. Sure, Khaji Da still occasionally had his impulses to blow things up from time to time, but having an impulse and acting on it were two completely separate things (and Bart would know considering the number of times he’d had to resist the impulse to kiss Khaji Da out of nowhere when Khaji Da was in control). Jaime though… there wasn’t a single thing that Bart could imagine Jaime _ever_ doing that would make him angry. And the idea that whatever it was that they were worried would make Bart mad was something they were equally responsible for… Bart was just drawing a blank.

“Um… What?” he said, not even in the slightest bit smoothly. Bart would have started mentally kicking himself for sounding like a complete idiot, but that thought was completely derailed when Jaime started talking.

“Okay, so… You know how I mentioned that I get into long late-night talks with Khaji Da sometimes, right?” At Bart’s nod Jaime let out a breath and continued, “This is… For a while, since we got more… _involved_ … Khaji Da was tuning things out. I mean, prior to that he was jealous for a while, but he got over it. It was a different huge long talk, but anyway— not important. _…Ay dios mio…_ So with this late night talk a while back— not the one about him being jealous, this one was later on— he kind of… well… He made it clear he was curious?”

Bart blinked. Stared. This was… what was… Was Jaime saying that Khaji Da just…? _What_. “Wait, hold up. Jealous? Curious? What? What am I missing here? I feel like I just walked into the Twilight Zone. Am I in the Twilight Zone? I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone. Did I accidentally do something weird and end up in an alternate time-stream or reality or am I just having a really good drea— _andohgodIreallyneedtoshutuprightnow_.”

“Uh… _Sí_? To Khaji Da having been jealous and being curious, that is. Not the rest of it though.” Jaime still looked awkward, but Bart was willing to bet that Jaime didn’t feel anywhere near as awkward as he did.

“Okay. Right. Jealous?” Bart figured the only way to make any sense of this entire bizarre scenario was to try to get Jaime to explain the simpler details first.

Jaime glanced away for a moment before admitting, “Really early on, when we first started dating? Khaji Da got… well… _jealous_. Jealous is the only word for it really. He was getting really annoyed by me being around you at the time— _but not anymore!_ ” Clearly Bart hadn’t been that good at keeping the hurt from creeping onto his face when he heard that. “We had a long talk, I told him that part of me living my life was being able to date someone if I wanted to, and we made that agreement that if he hated someone I wouldn’t be with them.”

Bart blinked as that slowly sank in. Khaji Da… had been jealous. _Khaji Da_ had made that agreement with Jaime about breaking it off if Khaji Da didn’t like who Jaime was dating. But Jaime hadn’t broken it off with Bart early on. Which meant that Khaji Da didn’t hate him. So that meant—“Khaji Da _likes me?_ ”

Jaime almost laughed. “I’d think that was obvious by now _cariño_.”

“So I might have been freaking out a bit! Come on, you started this whole thing with the typical ‘I’m gonna break up with you’ words! Give a guy a br- wait. You two had that conversation because of _me_?”

“ _Sí_. And plenty of other conversations too,” Jaime smiled, “He thinks you can be a bit over-dramatic sometimes.”

“ _Me?!_ Over-dramatic! Now that’s just—okay, yeah, that’s accurate.” Bart raked a hand through his hair and took a moment trying to get his thoughts in order. Finally he asked, “Curious? What was Khaji Da curious about?”

“That’s what we have to confess to you about,” Jaime said sheepishly. At Bart’s confused expression Jaime let out a heavy sigh. “There’s… There is no easy way to really say this.”

Bart reached out to take Jaime’s hand and gently squeeze. “You can tell me. It’s okay. I promise.” Well, at least whatever it was was okay if it meant that Jaime wasn’t breaking up with him.

“Okay,” Jaime breathed before continuing. “Like I said, for a long time Khaji Da was kind of tuning us out. You know? Pretty much ignoring us whenever things started getting more…”

“…Heated?” Bart guessed. Jaime nodded.

“Yeah. Thing is, a while ago… about three months ago… _madre de dios_ … Khaji Da got curious. About why we enjoyed all of it so much.”

Bart _stared_. Was Jaime saying what Bart thought he was saying? _‘No… couldn’t be…’_

Jaime fidgeted. He never fidgeted. Ever. Well, at least not unless he was seriously worried and thought he was in major trouble— which actually hadn’t happened for a long time. It kind of helped that Jaime’s parents, sister, and one of his grandmothers knew about the whole superhero thing. And Bart— they knew about Bart too. So why— Jaime chose that moment to continue. “So… since he was so curious… I kind of… invited him to not tune us out?”

This… the… Khaji Da… he just… Jaime said… and they… “ _What_.” Bart was pretty sure his brain had just broken.

It seemed as if, now that he’d actually started saying it, that Jaime’s words were just coming out in a flood. “He didn’t get it at first— why we like it so much I mean. And we talked it over, figured it was an integration issue, upped the level of how much we were integrated, and well… He’s kind of been ‘eavesdropping’ for a while? Off and on? And enjoys it? A _lot_? That, and a few days ago he finally admitted that he loves me? Loves _us_? And… _Ay dios mio, estamos tan muertos…_ It’s just… we both know that him eavesdropping without telling you was wrong, but I know how cautious he can be, and I figured that if he eavesdropped and decided he didn’t like it that it’d be easier on him to just let it happen the one time with the higher level of integration and not say anything and it turned out to not just _be_ the one time because he really liked it, and then there was the fact of him admitting that he loves us and the fact he was scared about telling me and then asking me to tell you and… We’re sorry? We’re sorry we betrayed your trust like that, and we’re both really hoping you’re okay with it, but we understand if you’re not and if you’re really not happy with us.”

This was… _‘Holy… SHIT.’_ This was everything Bart had wanted, and it had pretty much just been dropped in his lap. Everything he had wanted, and pined for, and _dreamed of_ but thought that he would never have had just been laid out in one giant confession that he had never expected to hear. It was like his brain locked up. There was just… he was too happy to even _think_.

“Bart?” Jaime said, his tone making it all too obvious how he and Khaji Da were interpreting Bart’s silence.

What— _NO_. This wouldn’t do. To have the relationship with both of them, with both of them _together_ , so close and to possibly be about to lose it because they misunderstood how he felt about it was too much. So Bart blurted out the first thing that popped up in his head without even thinking. “No, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. Why would I have a problem with it? I love both of you! And besides, do you have any idea how unbelievably hot the idea of getting not one, but _two_ people off _at the same time_ is?”

That was met with a stunned silence. There was a beat, and then Bart turned bright red as he realized what he’d just said.

What he next said was a babbling stream, trying to cover for his awkward misstep, but which only served to dig him into a deeper hole. “I mean, _obviously_ there’s more to it than that! I mean the sex is good, but it’s not the be-all and end-all, and _ohdeargod_ — does this mean Khaji Da is going to be involved now? Does this mean there’s going to be hot alien-bug-sex— _andohmygodIREALLYneedtoshutupandstoptalking!_ ”

Jaime laughed, _genuinely_ laughed. “ _Mi corazon_ , you’re ridiculous,” he smiled.

“I don’t… uuuugggghhhh… I screwed this up _completely_ ,” Bart groaned as he dragged his hands down his face.

For a moment Jaime looked briefly surprised, then smiled. Bart was confused about the reaction, and then he saw the subtle signs of Jaime and Khaji Da switching control. This time there was one rather blatant shift however, as Jaime’s beautiful brown eyes shifted to a brilliant golden color.

“K-Khaji Da?” he said. He was really hoping he hadn’t set Khaji Da off with his thoughtless babbling. That would have been _really_ awful, especially after finding out that, oh yeah, Khaji Da _loved both of them_.

“Bart,” Khaji Da answered.

“You’re not… mad at me for what I said… are you?”

Khaji Da rolled his eyes, an expression made all the more ‘loud’ by the fact of how subtle his facial expressions normally were, before seizing hold of the front of Bart’s shirt to tug him closer. “Recommendation: shut up and kiss me.”

Bart was more than happy to oblige. When the two of them finally paused to breathe—and _holy hell_ Bart had never expected a kiss from Khaji Da to be so intense that he felt like he wanted to collapse— he asked, “So does this mean that hot alien-bug-sex is definitely going to be a thing, or…?”

Khaji Da gave an amused snort, his golden eyes warm. “I do not think that will be a problem.”

“…Oh my _god_ I love you both.” There was no doubt about it, Bart Allen was a _very_ happy speedster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go, the end of Bart's POV. Let me know what you thought! (Jaime's POV is in the works.)


End file.
